Page 16

I hadn’t slept in two days, and my body was starting to feel it but between the shit with El Blanca and the streets, I was wired.

I was so alert that the moment I felt my eyes closed it’s like something clicked in my head telling me to get my ass up.

So, when I pulled up to Royal Enterprises headquarters, the block was already swarming with my people.

The black Escalades were lined up like a presidential run.

Tone was leaning against one of the trucks as his cold eyes swept the lot.

Dique had just touched back down from the West Coast and was dappin’ up a few of our people.

I stepped out of the bulletproof whip in slow motion as I slightly ran my hand over the waves of my brush cut.

The gold Cuban chain was heavy on my chest per usual and it was silent…

the kind when a boss enters the room. That’s what the parking lot felt like as I walked through the glass doors into the boardroom with O’Shynn and Carmen nearby.

Today it was all business. My wife’s heels clacked on the side of me and her all- black fit hugged her curves in all the right places.

I hadn’t had none of that pussy since the Bahamas and craved it now.

My sister had that fire in her eyes too, and you could see the same blood in both of us…

it was that Royal blood. Once inside, we ain’t waste no time and got straight to it.

“All right,” I said, stepping to the head of the table. “Let’s get into this shit.”

Tone closed the door and stood near it like a damn Doberman. Dique was already cracking his knuckles, half-playful but serious. “Tell me where to go. I’m on whatever time you on.”

“That’s what I like to hear,” I nodded. “West Palm and Homestead, those are two of El Blanca’s biggest money chains in Florida and tonight we hittin’ both. Fuck em.”

O’Shynn tapped her iPad, pulling up blueprints and satellite footage of the West Palm warehouse. “The shipment comes in every Wednesday at midnight. We already confirmed it and they moving weight by the tons.”

“And Homestead?” Tone asked.

“It’s a stash house man. It’s not just product but intel. It’s all kind of shit in there from flash drives, burner cells, money counters, and all kinda shit El Blanca don’t want touched.”

“Fuck El Blanca… blow that bitch off the map,” I said. “I don’t want no witnesses.”

Carmen cleared her throat beside me. “I’ve already sent word overseas.

El Blanca’s supply in the Dominican Republic is one of his biggest ports and is also getting fucked up tonight.

” She explained. I was proud of Carmen because this wasn’t even her specialty.

She’s only supposed to be on the legal side but that fact that she knew how to maneuver all sides said a lot about her dedication.

Dique let out a laugh. “Boy, we tappin’ that man’s pockets from three sides. He gon’ fold slime.”

“Or go to war,” Tone added. “But he started this shit anyway. This what he asked for. We ain’t runnin’ from shit. It’s funny how muhfuckas wanna see you do good but not better than them. El Blanca can eat a dick with taco sauce.”

I looked at my crew… my family and it was clear as day how deep in we really were and wasn’t no turning back no time soon. This was personal now. “Let’s bleed this muhfucka dry,” I said. “Make him regret ever thinkin’ he could try to sun me.”

Everyone nodded. Carmen glanced over at me, her expression was unreadable, but I knew her.

I felt her energy like electricity, and I knew she was with me ride or die.

We stepped out of the conference room and into the Miami night only to be met with hell.

Before anyone could react, gunshots rang through the sky before the door even closed behind us.

“Get DOWN!” Tone shouted, pushing O’Shynn behind a car.

It was a full-blown ambush. “GET COVER!” I growled, yanking Carmen behind the pillar near the main entrance. “Kill these pussy ass niggas.”

My hittas moved fast returning fire. I ducked behind a blacked-out SUV, pulled the MAC from my waistband, and lit up the block.

The brass shell casings bounced off the pavement like rain.

Carmen was blasting too and shawty dropped to one knee behind the front wheel, cool as ever, head-shotting a muhfucka without blinking.

“WHERE THE FUCK THEY COMIN’ FROM?” Dique barked, unloading his clip.

“They tryna box us in!” Tone shouted.

That’s when I saw Ramon go down. He was one of my day-ones and he got hit twice in the chest and dropped like a sack of potatoes.

I rushed toward him, but I was too late.

His blood started to pour out onto the sidewalk as he lay lifeless.

My vision turned red, and another maniac switch flipped on inside of me.

“Light they bitch asses UP!” I roared.

My crew did just that. The fuckin’ block lit up like fireworks on my lead.

They were outnumbered and wasn’t Royal smoke on our own turf.

The tires screeched as El Blanca’s people tried to dip but we clipped one of their trucks and flipped it over the curb, before setting that bitch on fire.

I scanned the chaos and saw Carmen ducking behind another car.

I ran to her with my heart beatin’ like a fuckin’ drum.

“You good?!” I yelled, crouching down, grabbing her shoulders.

She looked up at me with her face covered with smoke, and a little blood on her cheek but she was still focused while breathing real hard. but them eyes? Still focused. “I’m good, Dom… I’m okay.” She said licking her lips trying to catch her breath.

Something in me broke and healed at the same damn time.

Next thing I knew, I was pulling her into my chest right there behind the truck.

Fuck the sirens, the smoke, and the last of the gunfire popping off, I held her tight and told her how I felt.

“I can’t lose you,” I whispered in her ear.

“I don’t care about no crown, no turf, no cartel…

if somethin’ happened to you, Carmen, I’d burn the whole fuckin’ city down. ”

She pulled back just enough to look me in my face. “You already know I’m not going nowhere husband,” she whispered back. “I’m not just your lawyer, your rider, or your wife. I’m your fuckin’ shadow. Wherever you go, I’m there as long as you need me.”

It was chaos around us, but in the stillness, I knew my ass was falling in love with Carmen.

Some shit I swore I’d never do. It was deeper than attraction, and deeper than just fuckin’.

It was that deep, dangerous kind of love that could get a man killed if he wasn’t careful.

I leaned forward and kissed her right there and I ain’t give a fuck who saw it.

The streets could burn down around us, but she was safe and now El Blanca had another reason to fear me.

Because a man like me, in love? That’s the deadliest shit ever.

I had a reason to always want to stay alive.

The sirens were still wailing somewhere off in the distance when I crouched next to Ramon’s body.

He wasn’t even cold yet; blood the blood was still wet under him as it soaked into the concrete.

I had seen plenty of bodies, but this wasn’t just another body.

This wasmy soldier, my youngin’, and one of the most loyal hittas in my circle.

"Get the fuckin’ car," I growled to anybody listening. “We not leavin’ him in the street like he was nothin’.”

The rest of the crew had already started to peel off, watching the corners, and making sure the block was clear in case El Blanca's people doubled back. I wasn’t no fool and I knew the risk of staying too long.

But Ramon? He gave everything for this cartel and for me.

He wasn’t no stray that deserved to be left dead in the street and forgotten.

I owed his mama more than that. One of the black trucks pulled up slowly with the plates swapped and a fresh paint job with a burner phone tapped on the inside.

I nodded to my guy ‘Red’ in the front seat.

He was one of my clean-up men. “Drop him at the Hospital’s back door.

Tell 'em he was shot in a robbery and then burn the whip. I want that drop to be untraceable.”

Red nodded his head and two more of my hittas helped him gently lift Ramon into the backseat.

It took everything in me not to lose it in front of my crew.

I stared at the back of that truck until it disappeared down the Ave.

I pulled my phone out and dialed straight to Miss Twyla’s number but couldn’t even hit the call button yet.

She ain’t even know her baby gone. I pinched the bridge of my nose and exhaled again tucking that grief deep in my chest where it had to stay.

I had a war to finish. My phone buzzed in my hand on the private line with a status update on the hit. I swiped the call and answered, "Talk."

“Everything’s smoked out in West Palm and Homestead. Yo’ other crew in Colombia hit that shipment on the water. The estimated damage is just over two mil.”

I flexed my jaws and stared out over the Miami skyline. “Good… let El Blanca feel that pressure. Make sure they know the name ‘Royal’ is who stepped on they fuckin’ neck.”

“Copy that.”

I hung up and immediately opened the encrypted Royal app.

One touch and a black map expanded on my screen.

I pinged every Royal Enterprises location fromSouth Beach, to ATL, to L.A.

I then tapped into the command thread and sent a message: Code black in all locations.

I need all extra open and every spot beefed up with extra eyes.

The response from my lieutenants came in no time with a confirmation from every coast. I stepped into the elevator alone with blood still dry on my white tee, and bulletproof vest underneath.

I didn’t feel the pain until the elevator lights hit just right, and I caught a glimpse of red soaking through my left side.

I pulled up the tee when I got in the penthouse and sure enough, I’d been grazed.

"Fuck," I mumbled, chuckling to myself as I stared in the mirror.

That adrenaline really do have a nigga moving like he invisible.

The wound was ugly, but it wasn’t deep. The skin was torn, but it didn’t break through my muscle.

It burned like hell when I poured some whiskey over it, hissing through my teeth as I held a towel to my flesh.

That shit stung worse than I thought it would.

I taped it down myself, instead of calling the nurse.

I’d call but I needed a minute with just me and my thoughts.

Ramon’s name echoed in my head, and I couldn’t stop it.

Miss Twyla’s face flashed in my mind too.

She used to send food up to the shop for the crew years ago and always believed in her baby.

I texted my banker who was also a good friend and knew everything without me ever having to say a word because he kept up with the Cartel in any circumstance and any time messages when out, he received them too: Pull 50K and put it in Twyla Davis’ name.

I’ll cover the full funeral cost, and that house she been living in.

Pay it off quietly. I don’t want her to worry about nothing.

When I finally sat down with my shirt off and bleeding bandage, I lit a blunt and stared at the city from the balcony until Victoria found me.

She had to stay here with one of my people and it seemed like whenever I returned it was never long before she showed face.

Carmen and the crew had gone home. O’Shynn went to her place and so did Dique.

When Victoria saw the bleeding bandage, she gasped and rushed to the back before returning with a few things.